No. 29. The Mosquito.

The Mosquito is one of the wonders of creation, and a resounding and unanswerable proof that Nature makes nothing without a purpose.

There are a number of deadly diseases and plagues that would be unable to survive and spread without the aid of the mosquito. Microorganisms by the trillions would perish, and whole species would become extinct.

Nor are microorganisms the only beings that profit from the existence of mosquitoes. On a summer evening, when the sun has gone down in fiery splendor, and billowy clouds are painted salmon and peach all across the sky, and the heady scents of evening blossoms hover in the cooling air, human beings might enter a state of complacent contentment and universal benevolence, were it not for the mosquitoes who irritate them and stir them up to real accomplishments, such as wars and massacres.

Mosquitoes are elegantly constructed creatures, nearly invisible in flight, and having a natural teleportative ability. You can slap at a mosquito, but the mosquito will not be there when the blow lands. The few mosquitoes that do allow themselves to be slapped have usually gorged themselves into suicidal depression.

Allegorically, the mosquito is the patron insect of car alarms, stuck kitchen drawers, construction zones, public-address systems, and other irritants that give civilization its character.